Artist spotlight: Iarygina Anastasiia Andreyevna

Name: Iarygina Anastasiia Andreyevna

Hometown: Serpukhov (outside of Moscow)

Age: 19

When did you start creating your artwork?

Honestly, I do not remember when and how it started. I know I always have been passionate about art and handcrafts. As a child, I was involved in way too many artsy activities, and I think it helped me develop and open up my artistic personality. Also, my parents were not one of those people who would tell their child what they should do in life and whom they should become. They always believed in my abilities as an artist. They encouraged me to go to college and be who I always wanted to be.

What’s your favorite medium?

I feel that I am just like every other young artist still looking for my favorite medium. I hate limiting myself in one medium. I love to explore and experiment with my artwork.

What your favorite piece you’ve created and why?

Again I hate to pick my favorites, or even talk about any of my artwork as my favorite, because it would mean to me that they are close to perfect and that is against my philosophy. I believe that there is always something else to work on in artwork. But, I have one of my digital artworks that I have done this semester. It is my self-portrait (nonrepresentational).

What/who has inspired you the most and why?

Currently, my parents are the biggest inspiration for me. They have done so much for me just to be here, to be in college and get my education. They inspire me to work hard and follow my dreams. Also my art professors are a huge inspiration for me. They encourage everyone to work hard and improve everyday.

Is there an emotion that you wish to evoke when viewers see your artwork?

Of course, every artwork will bring up emotion. It depends on what am I doing. For example, I have done a series of portraits of my friends, and rather than using representational colors I decided to paint them with how I think they feel (using nonrepresentational colors, purple and blue for maybe sadness or loneliness, and yellows and reds for more kind emotion), so when other people would look at their portraits they would understand the personality of whom are they looking at, than rather just seeing how they look like. It’s a huge difference!

Where do you see yourself in 10 years in the art field?

There are so many possibilities in the art world that I could explore. Currently it’s hard to say where I will I be, maybe I will be a graphic designer in the U.S. or maybe I will be a freelance artist somewhere in Europe. I prefer to keep myself open to any kind of case or scenario; any of them will be exciting to me. One day I would love to own my own art gallery. Even now, I collect many artworks of my friends and I wish one day I will be able to hang them in a real art gallery. I also love traveling, so if you ask me what country I am going to live in 10 years, I would answer, “I don’t know, and I would like it to be a surprise even for me!”

Do you try to incorporate your home country into your art at all?

I feel like all of us bring the pieces of our background to our artwork, we just don’t know it. I don’t do it purposely but somehow people notice a touch of Russian artists in my works, so I guess I am just programmed as Russian, obviously haha, and that side of me will be always reflected in my artwork.

What other artists do you look up to? Or who is your favorite artist(s)?

I really don’t have a favorite, I find a lot of stuff interesting in different ways. It’s hard for me to make a decision of a favorite artist so I just don’t.

How do your friends and family show you support?

I came from a very small family, I am an only child, so my only family that I left back home is my mom, dad, grandma and my cat, of course. They call me daily and the talks with them help me feel like I am home with them. They look at my artwork all the time, encourage me to do more of it, and sometimes even give me ideas.

I left home a long ago, so my friends in Lock Haven are basically my family here. Of course all of them are artists as well. We help each other a lot in general. We critique our works to make them better, share ideas, and of course we don’t forget to have fun occasionally.

What kind of projects are you working on right now that we can look forward to checking out?

Right now I more concentrated on my major ( Graphic and online design). [I’m] working on a lot of digital work (typography, animation, photography ….).